Jason Gore leads by two

PGA Tour rookie Jason Gore was closing in on his first career title on Saturday, grabbing the third-round lead at the 84 Lumber Classic in Farmington, Pennsylvania.

Gore, who earned his PGA Tour promotion after winning three consecutive Nationwide Tour events earlier this year, began his day in style with an eagle two at the par-four first.

He finished on five-under 67 with a two-stroke advantage over Paraguay's Carlos Franco (68), Australia's Rod Pampling (69), Sweden's Carl Pettersson (70) and Americans Tag Ridings (67) and Craig Barlow (70).

Gore, who shot into the spotlight at the U.S. Open where he flirted with victory before a final-round collapse, had six birdies and four bogeys alongside his eagle for a three-day total of 12-under 204.

"I got off to a good start, chipped in on one for a two, and just kind of kept hitting some pretty good shots," said Gore. "I played pretty well but left a couple shots out there and got a couple shots I probably shouldn't have.

"Pressure is only what you make of it. I think I learned so much the last round of The Open that I was able to take it into the Nationwide events...

"I think what I learned from the Open has really helped me and is going to help me tomorrow, no question."

The 33-year-old Barlow was also enjoying his afternoon at the Mystic Rock Golf Course, mixing a bogey at the third with five birdies in his first nine holes, including three in a row from the seventh and another at the 11th to grab a share of the lead.

But a wobbly back nine, that included a double-bogey on the par-five 16th and bogeys on 14 and 18 dropped him back into the pack at 10-under 206.

"I've got to look at the big picture here," said Barlow, who has just one top 10 finish this season and is searching for his first career title. "The big picture is I'm making a lot of birdies and I'm playing good golf.

"I have to eliminate a few mistakes and to win out here, you can't have mistakes. I've had a double bogey every day and I'm still tied for second."

U.S. PGA champion Phil Mickelson vaulted up the leaderboard with a five-under-par 67 to finish seven strokes off the pace.

Defending champion and world number two Vijay Singh failed to make an impact, however, carding a 73 for a 54-hole total of three-under 213.

204 Jason Gore 65 72 67

206 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 67 69, Tag Ridings 68 71 67, Craig Barlow 70 66 70, Carlos Franco (Par) 69 69 68, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 66 70 70

207 Justin Leonard 73 64 70, Chris DiMarco 70 70 67, Cameron Beckman 69 65 73

208 Chris Smith 68 66 74, Joey Sindelar 68 68 72, Tim Herron 70 68 70, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 67 66 75, Zach Johnson 67 73 68

209 Jonathan Byrd 69 68 72

210 John Huston 70 73 67, Phillip Price (Wal) 73 71 66, Ben Crane 67 70 73, Steve Flesch 72 70 68, Mark O'Meara 65 74 71

211 Phil Mickelson 73 71 67, Brian Gay 73 70 68, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 70 72 69, Scott Hend (Aus) 72 70 69, Hunter Haas 71 69 71, Stewart Cink 70 70 71, Paul Claxton 69 72 70, Will MacKenzie 73 68 70

212 Joey Snyder III 74 68 70, Vaughn Taylor 71 71 70, Woody Austin 70 70 72, Dean Wilson 71 69 72, Steve Lowery 74 70 68, John Senden (Aus) 75 65 72, Todd Fischer 70 73 69

213 Bob Burns 67 70 76, Shaun Micheel 65 74 74, Ryan Moore 68 75 70, Robert Allenby (Aus) 72 71 70, Roland Thatcher 72 71 70, Kent Jones 73 68 72, Charlie Wi (Kor) 65 73 75, Vijay Singh (Fij) 72 68 73

214 Heath Slocum 71 71 72, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 70 74 70, David Hearn (Can) 73 69 72, Brian Bateman 72 71 71, Michael Putnam 71 73 70

215 Pat Perez 68 73 74, Frank Lickliter II 71 73 71, Brenden Pappas (Rsa) 68 74 73, Steve Allan (Aus) 73 70 72, Rocco Mediate 72 71 72, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 70 74 71

216 Ted Purdy 72 70 74, Matt Gogel 72 72 72, Tom Pernice Jnr. 71 72 73, Peter Lonard (Aus) 72 70 74, D.A. Points 72 71 73, Dudley Hart 69 72 75, Lee Janzen 70 73 73

217 Patrick Sheehan 73 70 74, Alex Cejka (Ger) 71 72 74

218 Glen Day 71 73 74, Harrison Frazar 73 71 74

219 Todd Hamilton 73 71 75

221 Kevin Stadler 69 75 77, Bradley Hughes (Aus) 73 71 77, Andrew Magee 73 71 77

222 Marco Dawson 74 70 78, Bo Van Pelt 69 74 79, Skip Kendall 72 72 78

226 Jeff Maggert 72 71 83

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